As of 13 August 2026, AI can create a performance review template.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. 1. Open your organisation's current performance review form, review policy, competency framework and rating guidance.
   2. 2. Gather the role description, review period, objectives, company values, required participants and any sections your HR process already requires.
   3. 3. Remove employee names, contact details and other unnecessary personal information before pasting the relevant material into the prompt.
   4. 4. Paste the prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and replace each bracketed slot with your organisation's information.
   5. 5. Ask the model to return the template in the format you will use, such as a Word document structure, table or online form layout.
   6. 6. Compare every section and instruction with the current policy, review process and rating guidance, then remove any invented requirements or unsuitable questions.
   7. 7. Ask an HR colleague and a manager who will use the form to test it against one realistic role, and amend the template before publishing it.

   Prompt

   Create a clear performance review template for [organisation or team], covering the role of [role] and the review period [period].
   
   Use these inputs:
   - Purpose of the review: [purpose]
   - Review stages and participants: [process]
   - Company values or competencies: [values and competencies]
   - Objectives or targets: [objectives]
   - Rating scale, if any: [rating scale]
   - Relevant internal policies or wording: [policies]
   - Any required development, training or wellbeing sections: [requirements]
   
   Produce:
   1. A practical form with sections for employee details, objectives, evidence of achievements, strengths, challenges, development needs, support required, employee comments, manager comments and agreed actions.
   2. Clear questions under each section, written in plain British English.
   3. Space for specific evidence and examples rather than personality judgements.
   4. Optional rating guidance that distinguishes performance levels without presenting ratings as objective facts.
   5. Separate prompts for the employee and the manager where useful.
   6. A final action plan with owner, timescale, support and follow-up date.
   7. A short note telling the user to apply the organisation's policies consistently, consider reasonable adjustments where relevant, avoid questions about protected characteristics unless the organisation's lawful process requires them, and have HR check the template before rollout.
   
   Do not invent company policies, legal requirements, targets, employee facts or ratings. Mark missing information as [to be confirmed]. Do not make employment decisions or recommend disciplinary action. Return the finished template first, followed by a short list of items I need to confirm before using it.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.